People, Scrum, XP, Lean, Complexity, Creativity, Fun

In short Theory X management style is based on the assumption that workers:

dislike work and will avoid it when possible; need to be forced with the threat of punishment to work towards organisational objectives. Prefer to be directed; to avoid responsibility; are relatively unambitious, and want security above all else.

While most hackers and computer programmers enjoy to use their intellectual potential to solve challenging problems (mastery) in their work, are proud to contribute substantially to the company success (purpose) and are keen on taking responsibility for their work (autonomy). This is a scientific finding.

Theory Y management style is based on assumptions more similar to those. As Theory X management style represent an extreme and real people have a style that is a combination of the two and stand somewhere between these two extremes. If you want to check what is the style of a specific manager or what style to you prefer,try this questionnaire.

Given a management similar to the Theory X style in an IT department, what can be the consequences of actions based on assumptions that don't match with reality for computer programmers, hackers and geeks ?